let's go break the law just one more time
by wild wolf free17
Summary: [Leverage AU] MCU crossover wherein the best criminals in the world are assembled to help people.
1. Pepper

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: references to violence, death of a child, depression/grief

Pairings: Jim Rhodes/Pepper Potts/Tony Stark

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 1435

Point of view: third

Prompt: MCU /or DCU. Any female character. _It's a bad man's world/I'm a bad, bad girl_

Note: This story goes in chronological order, though this is not the order it was written in. Because of that, some of the chapters seem to retread the same info, though I do think each one adds something new. This is a Leverage AU that spans over 40 years because I go into various backstories. It is complete (which is rare for me and multi-chapter fics, I know) and will be posted a chapter a day.

Each chapter will have specific warnings, but the entire story will have: references to violence, death of a child, depression/grief, implied torture/violence, mindgames; dub-con; canon character death; attempted murder and actual killing in self-defense; references to lots of assassinations, including murder of children

Each chapter will have specific pairings, but the entire story will have: Jim Rhodes/Pepper Potts/Tony Stark; Natasha/Clint, Steve/Bucky; Peggy Carter/Gabe Jones; Alexander Pierce/Bucky Barnes

* * *

When she is twelve, Virginia Potts' home is burgled. One of the things taken is a very expensive painting that her father had purchased for her mother for their tenth anniversary. Dad had insured it, so an insurance investigator came to the house to speak with both of Virginia's parents.

Six months later, the painting was back on the wall and Virginia's plans for her life changed.

.

When she is nineteen, Virginia Potts meets Tony Stark at a friend of a friend's party. He's recently been disinherited and forcibly removed from his father's property and is completely determined to make his own way in the world.

Unfortunately, he's also an addict and addicted to numerous things. He's a genius, even high out of his mind, but he forgets to take care of himself. Virginia has a very busy life, with a full course-load at school, a part-time job at the campus library, her exercise regimen, her friends – she doesn't have time for someone doing their best to self-destruct.

But Tony is so brilliant. It'd be a loss if he did manage to kill himself.

So she drags him from the party, shoves him into her shower, and proceeds to take over his life.

.

When she is twenty-three, Virginia Potts meets Jim Rhodes in a bookstore. She has her foot in the door at the company of her dreams, Tony is actually sleeping three nights a week while working on a major project as an engineering consultant, and she is sure that life could not be better.

She's wrong.

She's reaching for a book on masterpieces, and so is a tall black man in a suit; it's the last copy of the book and they argue about it for ten minutes before she sighs.

"Fine," she says. "I'll order it online."

"Oh, no, I couldn't possibly," he says. _"I'll_ order it online."

They end up at the small café attached to the bookstore, flipping through the book together. "Jim Rhodes," he says, holding out a hand. "If I told you what I do, I'd have to kill you."

She laughs, shaking his hand firmly. "Virginia Potts," she says. "Insurance."

.

Tony calls her 'Pepper,' calls Jim 'Rhodey.' When she is twenty-six, Virginia Potts realizes she loves them both. She tells Tony first, of course, and he admits that's he's been in love with her since he sobered up that first morning and in love with Jim since a week after she introduced them.

Jim eventually admitted, the second time they met for coffee, that he was working his way up the FBI chain, in art theft. He hoped to one day be on the Art Crime Team. They had so much to talk about she and Jim, and after their fourth coffee, she brought Tony along.

They were both her best friends. So when she is twenty-six, she talks everything over with Tony and when Jim comes to stay with them for New Year's, they tell him.

.

When she's thirty-three, finally secure in her position at AIM Insurance, Virginia decides to have a child. Tony and Jim agree. Tony has a small consulting business that takes him around the world and Jim is about to be invited into the Art Crime Team. They have an apartment halfway between DC and New York. She works steadily until the last few weeks before she's due, and Jim and Tony both stay close to home those weeks, and then they have a daughter, Virginia and her lovers.

"She looks just like you, Pep," Tony whispers, eyes glued to the tiniest, most perfect little girl Virginia's ever seen.

"Samantha," Virginia says. "Samantha Abigail."

"Sounds perfect," Jim murmurs, reaching out to touch Sammy's tiny little back.

.

When Sammy is a month old, Virginia returns back to work. There has apparently been a string of thefts along the Mediterranean coast, all very valuable artwork. Virginia's boss thinks it's an inside job, and so they send Virginia to investigate it.

She kisses Sammy, Jim, and Tony goodbye, and then boards a plane.

.

While examining the security footage with the local police, Virginia notices a lovely young maid on one of the taps. At the next location, the same maid is present. And the next. And the next. Oh, her hair color changes, and her skin tone from exceedingly fair to dusky, and her eyes, too – but her facial structure doesn't.

She contacts Jim to see if the woman's picture turns anything up, and that's how Virginia learns about the art thief and con-artist known as the Black Widow.

.

Natasha, Natalia, Natalie, Natia – the woman has been working for at least decade, though she can't possibly be more than 30. Virginia follows her trail around the Mediterranean, where she has posed as maids, dog-walkers, waitresses, a university friend of the target's child, a chef. The Black Widow is amazing, and also quite annoying. Only three of the seven stolen paintings are recovered; AIM ends up paying millions.

Virginia goes home to a daughter already crawling around, but Tony recorded everything, so at night, in-between Sammy's demands for attention, Virginia curls up with Tony or Jim, whichever is home, and watches her daughter grow.

.

When she is two years old, Sammy gets sick. It's inexplicable, and Virginia, Jim, and Tony run out of doctors to bring her to. She steadily worsens and there is a final, last-ditch treatment that one of Tony's friends, Dr. Banner, recommends – it costs thousands of dollars and is experimental, and while Tony can find the money (and neither Virginia or Jim will question where or how), it'll take time Sammy doesn't have.

So Virginia talks to the medical side of AIM, begs and pleads, and the claim is turned down, turned down, turned down.

Sammy dies just after her third birthday. Virginia returns to work after the funeral, but she sees the CEO in the hall as she walks to her office. She never does quite remember what happens next, but she comes back to herself while being pushed into a police car.

Tony meets her at the station. That fucker Stane doesn't press charges, so Virginia is allowed to leave with a warning.

Her job, of course, is gone. But it doesn't matter – Sammy is dead.

Jim takes off as much time as he can, but finally, he has to return to the FBI. Tony stops consulting so that he can stay with Virginia, and they scream at each other, throw things, sob in each other's arms, and finally, six months after Sammy dies, Virginia looks at herself in the mirror and says, "That's enough wallowing, Potts."

She'll be mourning for the rest of her life, but what she needs now is revenge.

.

She tells Tony, of course. She goes to Sammy's grave and leaves a single sunflower. "Goodbye, sweetie," she says, leaning down to kiss Sammy's name on the stone. Virginia Potts, AIM Insurance Investigator, dies that bright morning in Rest Haven Cemetery and it is Pepper Potts, budding criminal, who walks out.

"What do you wanna do?" Jim asks.

"Well, we can't target AIM directly, not yet," Pepper says. She settles between them, leaning against the car, clinging to Tony with one hand and resting her head on Jim's shoulder. "We need to establish ourselves first."

"Okay." Jim kisses her, then Tony and slowly disentangles himself. "I'll contact you in a month," he says, and she can tell it hurts him as much as it hurts her, hurts Tony. At work, she knows that he and Tony are just his good friends, that Sammy was the daughter of his friends. He had to hide the extent of his grief, his rage. He'd almost quit, but Pepper – Pepper knows how much use a member of the Art Crime Team can be, and she had calmly, coldly laid it all out.

Pepper and Tony curl together as Jim drives away.

"We'll start small," Pepper says when she finally stands up tall again. She glances towards Sammy's grave one more time, and then she settles into the driver's seat.

.

When she is twelve years old, Virginia Potts carefully charts out the course of her life.

When she is thirty-seven years old, Pepper Potts starts over. At first, all she has Tony beside her and Jim over the phone or Skype, but she slowly builds connections, allies, favors owed to her.

When she is forty-three, Pepper looks around at her team – the Black Widow, the Winter Soldier, Captain, and then Tony. Jim's in the wings, just waiting for the call to swoop in and turn on AIM.

Sammy would be ten today.

Pepper smiles at Tony. "It's time."


	2. Natasha

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Leverage

Warnings: references to violence

Pairings: Natasha/Clint, Pepper/Tony(/Jim), Steve/Bucky

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 1895

Point of view: third

Prompt: any TV show. any. Maybe I should fight harder for you/But I said I'd let you go when you wanted me to (Lost & Found - Adrianne Pierce)

* * *

When Natalia is ten years old, she and her mother flee to Italy. Natalia does not ask about Papa or any of her brothers left behind in the organization: her first loyalty is to Mama. Mama chooses Rome because she loves history, and she says they must only use new names and speak Italian and that they cannot sound Russian anymore. Mama tells her that her name is now Sofia for it is common and so many girls have it, and so Sofia learns Italian and trails Mama through Rome.

Mama makes friends easily; she always has. Sofia watches, learns, mimics. She is a bright girl; Papa had told her that one day, she might take over for she is far smarter than her brothers. Mama had been horrified – Sofia heard her shout, "My daughter will never be a criminal!" All the men had laughed.

In Rome, while Mama tries to build them a new life, Sofia reads history books and travel books and art books and textbooks on various things because she loves knowledge. Knowledge is power, she knows.

Sofia is not with Mama the day the men kill her. Instead, she is in their small flat reading about how the European kingdoms had divided up the world, and she opens the door when someone knocks on it.

He is a tall man, broader than Papa, and he says in broken Italian, "Your mother has been killed."

.

She refuses to believe them until they show her Mama's body. One bullet to the back of the head. They tell her that it had been ordered by her father, and they arrived too late. They ask if she'll stay with them.

There is a boy about her age. He says to call him Clint. His older brother is Barney; they are Americans, the boys and the men, and Mama is dead.

She tells them her name is Ileana, in honor of her mother. She stays.

.

Clint is funny, smart, and brave. She already knows the basics of weapons, from Papa and the boys, but Clint shows her everything he knows, which is what Chisholm and Duquesne have taught him. "Buck's a con-artist," Clint explains while showing Ileana how use a stiletto blade. "Jack's a thief. They found me and Barney after we ran away." He shrugs. He sounds more Italian than the men or his brother, almost as good as her.

"How'd you end up in Rome?" Ileana asks.

Clint shrugs again, dodging as Ileana strikes at him with the blade. "We had to get out of America quick, so Buck tossed a dart at a world map."

Ileana teaches Clint Russian and Clint teaches her English, and they cobble together a language no one else will ever learn, woven with half a dozen languages they both know parts of.

.

Ileana's mother hadn't wanted her to become a criminal like everyone else in the family. But Chisholm and Duquesne utilize her in their jobs, as bait or a distraction, and she is so very good at charming people. Clint's not much of an actor, and neither is Barney, so Duquesne teaches them to be the muscle while Chisholm teaches Ileana how to embody someone else.

Mama would be horrified, but Ileana knows this is the best way to avenge her. Papa ordered Mama killed, it's the only thing that makes sense, so Ileana will become the best criminal in the world to steal Papa's organization away from him.

.

When Ileana is 16, she kisses Clint for the first time. He blushes, ducks his head down, won't meet her eyes. "Tell me stop and I will," she murmurs before leaning back in, lifting his chin with a finger, kissing him again.

He kisses her and then he gently pushes her away. "There's something I have to tell you," he says.

.

Ileana-Sofia-Natalia wasn't there when the men killed her mother. Barney Barton was. Barney Barton has a big mouth when he's drunk, and so when Clint pestered him while he was in his cups, wanting to get more responsibility for their jobs, Barney bragged to him about the hits Jack takes, sometimes. Like that pretty Russian, Buck's protégé's mother.

Clint's been gathering up the courage to tell her for days, and when he finally stutters it out, he closes his eyes.

.

Natalia reaches out to cup Clint's cheek in her palm. "You didn't know," she whispers. "You were a child, just like me."

Clint opens his eyes and gazes at her. "What are you going to do?"

.

Natalia's papa ordered the hit on Mama. Does it matter that Duquesne carried it out?

Yes. It does. It wouldn't, if he hadn't brought her into this little family and lied to her for five years, if he hadn't been teaching her, if he hadn't been raising Clint to be a killer.

So she kisses Clint again and she asks, "What will you do if I avenge my mother?"

Clint sighs heavily. "Nothing," he finally says. "It's… it's your right. I just…" He shakes his head, rubs at his face. "Please don't kill Barney."

.

She kills Duquesne first, as he eats breakfast: a blade across his neck. Chisholm tries to run, so she shoots him in the back of the head. Barney attempts to wrestle her down, but while he is stronger, she is faster. He lives, though his right arm may never again work correctly.

When it's done, she does not feel better.

Clint steps into the room, hands at his side. He looks at Barney, prone on the ground, and then up at her. "What now?" he asks.

"We find our own way," she says, holding out a hand.

He takes it and they leave together.

.

Natalia does not wish to become an assassin. She would be marvelous at it, of course, but killing is not something she takes pleasure in. Instead, she and Clint con and steal their way through Europe, and occasionally, Clint will take jobs to retrieve whatever they just stole, which always makes Natalia laugh. He doesn't seek out assassinations, but if the pay is good and the target deserves it, he'll talk it over with Natalia.

The Black Widow has a love of artwork and jewels; very few people know that she works with a partner. As ever, Natalia is the bait and the distraction. Clint is good at many things, but he still can't act for shit.

As happy as she is with Clint, there is still something missing.

"You still haven't got your vengeance," Clint tells her one bright morning as they sunbathe on a yacht in the Mediterranean.

"I haven't," she agrees.

That evening, she kisses Clint goodbye and begins making her way back to Papa.

.

It is five years before she sees Clint again.

.

There is an American soldier that has caught the notice of the criminal underbelly of the world. When his team is betrayed to their death, Natalia decides to do a favor for one of Clint's acquaintances. Collecting favors is always fun.

Natalia does not like Rumlow, but Clint says he has his good points. She actively dislikes Dr. Zola, but he is the best at what he does.

She stays as long as she can, for the American is charming – but she has too many things in play to stay gone, and so she leaves the American to Rumlow, Zola, and Alexander Pierce.

.

Papa's organization crumbles after he is poisoned. Natalia could stay and take over; she could execute all of them, or arrange for various authorities to connect their crimes to them.

Instead, she leaves them in disarray. They will destroy each other and her vengeance be complete.

.

The Black Widow returns in a loud way, conning along the Mediterranean coast. Virginia Potts chases her, and so do many government agencies, and she meets up with Clint in Rome, where they disappear together.

.

Natalia loves Clint the way she has loved none other. Twice, she has dropped everything and gone to rescue him when he gets in over his head, as he does – he is an amazing marksmen and brilliant at hand-to-hand, but he does not plan ahead.

They spend months together and then months apart, each working their own jobs. They always return to Rome, though. It is a weakness, Natalia knows, and predictable, and perhaps it will be their downfall –

But they walk through the streets holding hands, and then they each go their own ways, and Natalia becomes someone else, takes as she pleases, lives so dangerously.

Mama would not be proud. Mama wanted something else for her. But what else could Natalia do?

.

The Winter Soldier leaves Pierce and Natalia finds him; he is not the man she remembers, which saddens her, just a bit. She is owed many favors, but there are few debts she owes in turn. If she had known what she was saving the American for – but he smiles at her and he says there is no debt, and she has no time to thunk his head against the table for being so foolish.

Alexander Pierce is what Papa wished to become, and far too powerful for Natalia to destroy on her own. And she won't risk Clint, not for a mistake that was hers alone. She helps Jay where she can, when he lets her, and she hopes that he finds whatever it is he needs to heal, or that if he doesn't, that he dies quickly and cleanly.

Perhaps one day, she would be able to tear down Pierce's organization, or at least kill him and watch his empire fall.

.

Natalia is almost forty when Justin Hammer approaches her for a job. He already has a hacker and a person to plan. She decides to at least listen to what this team has to say and is somewhat astonished to see who the members are: Tony Stark and Virginia ("Call me Pepper") Potts. Out of sheer curiosity, she decides to stick around.

When Pepper says they need muscle, Natalia sees one way to chip away at the debt she still owes.

.

"Pepper Potts will owe you a favor," she tells Jay.

"This'll be my last job," Jay tells her.

.

After Hammer tries to kill them, Natalia calls Clint. He wants to hop on the first plane so he can put an arrow through Hammer's skull, but she talks him down.

"Stay safe," she orders. "If I need you, I'll call."

He sighs heavily. "Okay," he says.

"Clint," she says. "Please. You know it's safer –"

"I know, Tasha," he says. "I know."

.

Natalia has spent most of her life trying to keep Clint safe. He's spent just as long doing the same for her. She wishes she could explain it so that he understood, so that he'd just stay where she puts him and let her watch out, but she'd hate if he did that to her.

She watches Pepper and Tony, Jay and Steve, and she wants to ask how they can stand their weaknesses out in the open.

Instead, she texts Clint complaints about Stark, the funny things Steve says, just how attractive Jay is when he smiles.

Clint responds to each text, and then he demands that she see if Jay would want to join in, the next time they're together.

Natalia laughs aloud and replies, _I think Captain would kill us both_.


	3. Peggy

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: references to violence

Pairings: Peggy Carter/Gabe Jones

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 610

Point of view: third

Prompt: any Whedonverse. any. Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes...

* * *

Father would be utterly horrified by what has become of his darling daughter, and that's partly the reason Peggy does it. It began out of boredom, this career of hers, but it has turned into a thrill-seeking enterprise that allows her to travel as she will in a way little else would. It is perhaps lonesome, some of the time, but that's why she teams up with other thieves, occasionally.

That has, of course, backfired spectacularly twice, getting her both shot once and forcing her to flee France, so she now carefully vets any potential partners.

.

In January, a petty thief trying to make a name for himself contacts Peggy. He has a job lined up that requires more finesse than he currently possesses. Peggy agrees to meet him in a public location of her choosing in a month's time, because the job is located in Miami and she is in Sydney, about to hook a pleasantly large mark.

.

In February, Peggy meets Antoine Triplett in a loud bar in Miami. He's personable, handsome, and funny. She likes him on the spot.

Also, he passed her very rigorous background check, which either means he's clean or better than her.

.

In March, Antoine brings in another pair of thieves because the job has grown and they need more than two pairs of hands for it to succeed. Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons are sweet kids who have apparently gone through quite an ordeal, if the way they cling to each other is any indication. They have potential, so Peggy decides to teach them what she can during the course of the job.

.

In April, they strike.

Though Peggy is unaware of it, when she returns for Leo after he gets shot by one of the guards, she earns his and Jemma's eternal gratitude and oath to do any favor she ever asks. She simply goes back for him because Antoine and Jemma are already clear, and Leo is one of her partners.

.

In May, Antoine brings Peggy, Jemma, Leo, and their haul to his cousin Gabe Jones, the only trustworthy fence in the business (or so he says).

Peggy is not a romantic; she never has been.

She likes Gabe instantly, just as she had Antoine, and she trusts him to move the loot.

.

In June, Peggy returns to Gabe's shop because she wants to ask about a rare volume of poetry. That's it.

.

In July, Gabe tracks Peggy down in Dubai because the rare volume of poetry had come in. That's it.

.

Peggy spends most of August in Gabe's flat, taking a break from the constant travel because she's exhausted (honest, she is). She helps out around the shop, catches two shoplifters, and provides an alibi for Antoine when Interpol almost catches him in a con.

"Your cousin is a terrible liar," she informs Gabe.

He laughs. "I know. He used to get in trouble because of stuff I did all the time."

.

In September, Peggy drags Gabe into a minor job by ordering him to be in the lobby of her favorite hotel in Madrid so that when the authorities looked for a single woman they'd miss the married couple on holiday.

.

In October, Coulson tries poaching Gabe for some silly team he's trying to form, and instead, Peggy points him towards Antoine.

.

In November, Gabe opens a second shop and Peggy helps him make sure the staff is completely trustworthy.

.

In December, Gabe smiles at Peggy as he serves her one of his homemade breakfast specials and asks, "You remember that con in Madrid? How'd you like to make it real?"

Peggy smiles back and says, "I'd like that very much."


	4. Brock

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: implied torture/violence, mindgames

Pairings: none

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 720

Point of view: third

Prompt: any, any, I got a tortured mind/And my blade is sharp/A bad combination/In the dark

* * *

Brock is sent undercover with gun-runners in his third year at the CIA. He only realizes he (or someone else) fucked up somewhere when he gets knocked across the back of his head and shoved into a hole. He has no idea how long he's in the hole, but he hasn't died of dehydration by the time they come for him.

He still has no idea who the boss is when he's dragged out, given a bottle of water and half of a banana, and then pushed into the back of a van. He'd fight, but his balance is fucked, and then his body rejects the food, so he's heaving in the back of a van, trying not to cry for his mama. He's thirty goddamned years old.

By the time the van stops and the men drag him out, he's mostly calmed down. His fear has turned to anger, but he forces himself to hold his tongue. They're probably gonna torture him, but he's trained for that, and he knows that his team is gonna come for him. They have to come for him.

They don't come for him. But a blond man crouches down in Brock's cell and smiles. "Hi," he says. "Are you hungry?"

Brock knows exactly how it works, but he falls for it anyway.

.

He honestly didn't know much prior to the mission that went sideways, but he tells it all to Alexander. He's pretty sure months have passed by the time Alexander sits down across the table where Brock's meals are served and says, "So, you ready to go home?"

Brock blinks at him. "You're gonna let me go?"

Alexander smiles at him. "Don't you want to go home?"

It's not like he has a family, or even many friends. His team never came for him. "Couldn't I…" he ventures. He has no idea how high in the organization Alexander is, or who he answers to, but Brock raises his chin and says, "Couldn't I stay?"

Alexander's smile widens. "I'd like that, Brock."

.

He has to build his strength up. Alexander says, "I'll be back to check on you," and pairs him with a guy named Jack Rollins who doesn't talk much, but beats Brock's ass for the first few weeks. The first time Brock wins the spar, Rollins grins at him. They jog around the property most mornings, though Brock still has no clue where they are, and Rollins makes sure he eats regularly.

Rollins is American, too, Brock thinks, though they never talk about anything important.

Three months into the training, Alexander comes back. Brock doesn't know it, though, until his sparring partner (a guy twice his size) has him on the ground, panting and tapping out, and Alexander kneels down beside him as the guy gets up.

"You're better than this," Alexander says, and Brock looks at him, and he thinks, _You're right_.

It doesn't matter who Alexander is in the organization; he's got Brock's loyalty for life.

.

Brock's always had a lot to prove and no one who gave a shit. But he's got a chance to become someone now, and the guys here are different from his team back in the CIA. He knows that Rollins would come for him, if only to put him down before he spilled secrets, and he knows that Alexander is watching, so he's gonna prove that he can be an asset.

He and Rollins are sent after people who might become threats, after snitches, after rivals and those who anger the boss. Alexander returns every few months, always with new orders, so Brock knows he's gotta be high up, trusted.

Four years into it, Alexander sits down across the table from Brock and says, "How'd you like a promotion?"

.

So Brock is given command of his own team, the elite, and Alexander holds out a hand. "Alexander Pierce," he says. "Welcome to the organization, Mr. Rumlow."

Brock and his team are Alexander's best, his chief enforcers, the ones who keep him safe. He shakes Alexander's hand firmly and says, "Thank you, Mr. Pierce."

.

There was a life before this, but Brock was a nobody then. He's a somebody now, and he's the best at what he does, and the best thing that ever happened to him was the CIA leaving him to die.


	5. Bucky

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: violence/death/dub-con

Pairings: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes, Alexander Pierce/Bucky Barnes

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 640

Point of view: third

Prompt: Any, Any, The monster inside.

Note: Okay, so. I am honestly not sure if "Bucky" fully consents to anything he and Alexander do, so I'm gonna add 'dub-con' to each chapter set during their relationship. But "Bucky" is in a bad mental place for a hella long time, so just be aware of that, okay?

* * *

There used to be this punk kid that thought he could take on all the unfairness of the world and win. Bucky met him when they were seven, while the kid was yelling at a bunch of boys who pulled a little girl's hair.

Bucky hated unfairness, too, so he jumped into the fight on the losing side and never looked back.

.

He kissed Steve once. Just once. The night before he left, when he didn't know if he'd ever be back, he kissed Steve desperately on those lips he'd been dreaming about for years, and then, with Steve panting behind him, he walked away.

.

He's gifted, they tell him. Strong, fast, a mind for tactics. There's a program they want him to go into.

He says yes and all contact with the outside world is cut off during training. He doesn't get leave, can't write home. Once a month, he can have a five minute phone-call with immediate family.

It's shady as fuck, but the pay's good and he's doing good in the world. Isn't he?

Ma always sounds so surprised to hear from him. He wonders if his family would even be told if he died.

.

Dum Dum, Jim, Monty, and Jack - they're good men, funny and loyal, and Bucky's the youngest but given command of the team. He's brilliant, they tell him, and he and his team are sent out. He's twenty-two years old, hasn't been home in four years, hasn't used his phone-call home in three. It always knocked his head out of the game, and he needs to be sharp, ready.

It's shady as fuck, this whole thing, but his men, they're the best. They're good guys. Dum Dum treats him like a little brother, and Jim's always got jokes, and Monty tells the tallest tales, and Jack makes convincing arguments that every situation can be improved with explosions.

.

So many of their missions are off the books, for reasons Bucky doesn't know. He doesn't know who to ask.

All he can do is follow orders and protect his team as best he can.

He also can't leave any hint that he's noting everything, every inconsistency, every vague explanation, every person he and his team kill for reasons he doesn't know.

.

Bucky Barnes is twenty-five years old when he dies with his brothers.

Later, he'll think the Winter Soldier was always inside him, waiting. Every fight he finished for Steve, how he got shunted into the program immediately. How even though they were meant to be ghosts, someone must have noticed him on all those missions.

The Winter Soldier was always there, but it's not until Alexander Pierce that the Winter Soldier is let out.

"You're gifted," Alexander tells him the first time James saves his life during an attempted hit. "Now, how about we see who sent him."

Strong, fast, a mind for tactics. Brilliant, they told him once.

The Winter Soldier is a ghost story. Alexander has plenty uses for a ghost.

"You're my greatest asset," Alexander says, reaching out to trace James' lips. James moves into the touch, kneeling as Alexander guides him down.

.

He dreams about Steve sometimes. His baby sisters, his parents. The boy he was, that stupid kid who hated unfair fights and went to the marines because he wanted to do some sort of good.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, tell Pierce I won't -" the man shouts as the Winter Soldier reaches out with his left arm to grip the man's neck.

"You shouldn't have gone to the Russians," the Winter Soldier tells him as he crushes the man's throat. He leaves the body where it falls and moves further into the house.

Alexander wants this to be a message, which means so survivors left on the property.

This is far from the worst thing he ever does for Alexander.


	6. Winter Soldier

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: violence/death/dub-con

Pairings: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes, Alexander Pierce/Bucky Barnes

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 1385

Point of view: third

Prompt: Author's choice, author's choice, dissolution, disintegration and despair

* * *

When it's all over, Bucky, Jim, and Dum Dum are somehow still alive. Jim's bleeding out onto the dirt, though, and Dum Dum's barely conscious, and Bucky's left arm is hanging on by a thread.

Monty and Jack are already dead, and Jim's about to join them, and Bucky is shouting, "Help's on the way, Jim, c'mon, hang on," trying to staunch the flow with his one working hand, and at Dum Dum, "Wake up, you fucker, this ain't time to be sleeping!"

By the next morning, Bucky's the only one left. He curls in on himself, his arm alternately numb or on fire, and he waits for death.

.

Death doesn't come. Instead, a gorgeous red-head does and she pauses to look at Dum Dum and Jim, and then she crouches beside Bucky. She murmurs, "Almost too late" and pulls out a cellphone.

"No reception," Bucky slurs and she grins at him as the call connects.

.

Bucky wakes up fighting. A red-headed woman holds him down, speaking calmly and kindly, and Bucky lets himself be soothed.

He awakes up again to a red-headed woman in the chair beside the bed. She smiles at him, offers him water, and then says, "You're officially dead."

Bucky asks, "My team?" There's a bandage on his shoulder and no left arm. His entire body is numb but he assumes that's the meds.

"They didn't make it," she says. "I'm afraid I was delayed, but they were injured worse than you."

He blinks at her. "Who _are_ you?"

"Natalia," she says. "I was doing a favor for the friend of a friend. Something went wrong." She chews on her bottom lip for a moment before saying, "That strike was ordered by someone on the inside and I was the _only_ help on the way."

Bucky stares at her. "You're sayin' we got – betrayed or disavowed or somethin'?" he asks.

Natalia spreads her hands. "Nothing else makes sense." She glances toward the door. "We're in a private facility for the very rich or very connected," she says, looking back at him. "They don't know who you are. Bucky Barnes died with his team, do you understand? It's already been reported home. Currently, I have a friend of a friend who could use a man of your talents."

Bucky scoffs. "I'm down an arm," he says, letting his head fall back.

She laughs softly. "We'll discuss that the next time you're awake."

.

He dreams of his sisters, of Rebecca's laughter and Olivia's smile and the way Julia couldn't pronounce i _Buchanan/i_ so she named him Bucky. He dreams of Mama's singing and Dad's horrible taste in movies, of the sit-down dinners Mama insisted everyone be home for until the morning Bucky left for basic.

He dreams of the way they'll all cry when they get the news.

He dreams that he'd worked up the nerve to kiss Steve Rogers when they were fourteen instead of waiting till the night before he left. He dreams that he didn't run away and that Stevie kissed him back.

.

They tell him the arm is experimental but they're hopeful for its success. They tell him it'll be paid off by working for them and Bucky knows what that means – he's got very few skills worth all this effort, but damn if he isn't amazing at killing. They tell him it'll be wired directly to his brain, will work like the arm he was born with, will be stronger. Once their spiel is done, the ratty doctor and his minions, Bucky looks at Natalia, standing beside someone she calls "Rumlow, the friend of a friend." He asks, "You trust them?" nodding to Dr. Zola and his crew.

Natalia looks at Rumlow, then Zola, and then she tells Bucky, "I trust that they know what they're doing."

He signs on the dotted line. It's not like he's got another choice.

.

Bucky Barnes dies with his team when he is twenty-five years old.

.

It takes six months for James Smith to relearn to fight and shoot. He trains with Rumlow and his team; Natalia leaves a week after the surgery. James doesn't expect to ever see her again. He knows what they're training him for, exactly how he'll work off the cost of his arm.

The arm is incredible. He can punch through brick, but can also write with a pencil. It's not quite as good as his right hand, but damn, he's got two arms again and that's worth a lot of aggravation.

He's with Rumlow's group, acting as an assassin and an enforcer, for a year after he's back fighting fit. And then Rumlow introduces him to the boss, Alexander Pierce.

.

At first, Alexander is charming. He's gorgeous and funny and looking for a bodyguard he can trust. Rumlow tells Bucky that it'll still count towards his debt if he takes the job, so James does.

What Bucky will never tell anyone is that he truly did love Alexander for the first two years. He knew what Alexander is, what he's still doing, but –

The worst thing he ever does in his life, he does for Alexander Pierce. The _Winter Soldier_ , they call him. Pierce's attack dog. Not just a bodyguard but a pet killer. Some of Pierce's men even talk about how the man isn't paid, he does it all for free.

He loves Alexander, so he gives Alexander everything. Rivals die, traitors go missing, evidence disappears. They spend days in bed and nights planning how the next enemy will fall. Bucky became a killer in the marines, but Rumlow and Pierce hone James into the best killer in the world.

"James," Alexander says one evening, "there's a general and his family I'd like you to make an example of."

"Just tell me when and where," James replies, turning the page in his book.

.

The general, his wife, his two children, their spouses, and three grandchildren.

The worst thing he ever does in his life, he does for Alexander Pierce. This is not it, not even close.

But the general and his family – James looks down at the body of the youngest, a little girl with eyes the same color as Julia's.

James reports that the task is done and then he walks away.

.

He can't go home so he sticks to what he knows – soon, everyone knows that the Winter Soldier has left Pierce's organization, and they also know that instead of maximizing casualties, now he minimizes them. He's still the best in the business, a position that is cemented with every hitman sent after him until they finally stop coming.

Of course Alexander is furious. Alexander and Rumlow are the only ones who know that James Smith is Jay Buchanan is the Winter Soldier, and they keep that a secret. They don't know about Bucky Barnes.

He knows that Alexander is waiting for him to come crawling back, to beg for everything again. There isn't much he's sure of anymore, but he knows that he'll die before ever going back.

.

"I'm sorry," Natalia says, dropping into the seat across from him. Her hair is blonde now and she's dressed like a high-powered executive.

"For what?" he asks.

She shakes her head. "Don't be stupid, Jay. How can I repay the debt?"

He shrugs. "You don't owe me anything."

Natalia glares at him. "If I weren't on a job right now," she says, "I'd take the time to argue with you. Unfortunately, I have somewhere to be in five minutes. We'll talk later."

"I look forward to it," he says, going back to his book.

.

There was once a boy with a flag on his shoulder and hope in his heart. He followed orders, protected his team, and planned for the future. He died.

For three and a half years, James followed orders to work off what he eventually realized is a never-ending debt.

Jay Buchanan has no master and no mission beyond his next paycheck, which he uses to buy useless shit he doesn't need. Natalia sometimes calls to bug him. He eventually stops taking on hits, shifting fully to retrieving items. A few times, he also rescues kidnapping victims. (Natalia once calls it wiping the red from his ledger. He doesn't tell her that's impossible.)

He isn't happy, but he is alive.


	7. James

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: violence/death/dub-con

Pairings: Alexander Pierce/Bucky Barnes; Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 790

Point of view: third

Prompt: MCU, Any(+/Any), Your Approval Fills Me with Shame

* * *

"Smith," Rumlow calls, "come here."

James just finished showering, and he's tired, and he still sees the poor bastard who refused to stop fighting until James snapped his neck. He sighs, tugs his shirt over his head, closes his locker, and goes to the door, where Rumlow is waiting.

"The boss wants to meet you," Rumlow says.

.

Alexander Pierce is an arms dealer, a drug kingpin, a human trafficker. If it can be sold for a profit, he sells it. He orders hits all over the world, toppling whoever might become a threat.

Alexander Pierce is handsome, charming, and offers James a seat across from him at the table. "I've been following your career with quite some interest, Mr. Smith," he says. "I had my doubts at first; your injuries were severe." He smiles, gesturing at the bottle of wine. "Would you like some?"

"No, thank you," James says. His shoulder is aching, where the arm connects.

"I'd like you to come work directly for me," Alexander Pierce says.

.

The first time Alexander kisses him, James freezes. Alexander chuckles and pulls him in closer. "You are magnificent," Alexander murmurs against his lips.

James killed three people for Alexander in the past week, intimidated a dozen more, and personally escorted Alexander's wife to their vacation home in Paris. In three months, James has risen all the way to the top as Alexander's bodyguard and right hand, even giving orders to Rumlow as needed. And he's noticed Alexander watching him, of course he has, he notices everything in his surroundings.

He kisses back because Alexander is smart and funny and can be kind, so generous, so sweet. He kisses back because Alexander has touched him more in the past three months than anyone has since his brothers died in the dirt. He kisses back because they've discussed history and old sci fi movies and they have the same favorite songs.

He kisses back because he's been in love with Alexander since that first night.

.

The worst thing he ever does in his life, he does because Alexander asks him to.

After, he looks down at his hands and inhales, exhales, inhales. He feels empty.

James goes back to Alexander's villa in Monterosso al Mare, and he spreads himself wide for Alexander, and he whispers how it was done, and as Alexander kisses his way down James' throat, James realizes he still feels empty.

.

Often in those three years, Alexander tells James, "You are my greatest asset." He commends James on his technique, his deft touch, his brutality. He teaches James so many things.

The first two years, James always felt a spark of pleasure at the words. The last year…

.

The last thing he does for Alexander is to murder an entire family. He calls Alexander and then stares at his phone in silence after Alexander says, "I'll see you tonight," and hangs up.

He still feels empty. Nothing. Like he's no more than Alexander's knife, ever sharp and used whenever Alexander likes.

James doesn't want to feel nothing anymore.

.

He knows that they'll hunt him for leaving. He still owes them for the arm, a debt he'd have never worked off. He knows so many of Alexander Pierce's secrets.

Bucky Barnes died at 25. James Smith dies just before Bucky Barnes would've turned 30.

He could go to one of Alexander's enemies, sell all his secrets. He could return and destroy the empire from within. He could try to become a man his sisters would be proud of, someone Stevie could love.

Instead, he just walks away into a new identity and sticks with what he knows. Maybe it's a coward's way, the easy way. He doesn't know how to do anything else, and he just feels empty.

.

He dreams about Alexander sometimes, Steve other times. His parents, the girls. His brothers begging for help as they die. Rumlow taking his pound of flesh, or Natalia kneeling beside him and watching him bleed out, shushing him as he cries.

The worst dream is when he goes back to Alexander, kneels at his feet, and Alexander gently caresses his cheek, murmuring, "I knew you'd come home. I'm so proud, James." And Alexander pulls him up, kisses him, says, "I have so much for you to do."

The worst dream is when Alexander tells him, "You are my greatest asset, James," and he just smiles at Alexander, happier than he's been since he left Brooklyn.

.

He doesn't want to kill Alexander; he never has.

He knows he will, though. A thief turns around in a rich man's house and Bucky Barnes comes back to life the moment Jay Buchanan lets his mask fall off his face and Steve Rogers says, "… Bucky?"


	8. Steve

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: canon character death

Pairings: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes, Peggy Carter/Gabe Jones

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 1070

Point of view: third

Prompt: any, any, idle hands are the devil's playground

* * *

Bucky goes into the marines and Steve goes to college. It's a good school and he's on scholarship, and he takes all the required general studies courses, sending emails to Bucky and calling Ma every week. He's thinking about becoming an accountant, or maybe going into advertising, or something. He doesn't have any friends, in his classes or on the dorm floor, but that's not important. He's got Bucky.

Bucky stops responding to the emails halfway through the semester. Steve continues to write anyway. He pours out his heart, every piece of it, and Bucky still doesn't write back. If something had happened to him, Steve knows Bucky's mom would contact him, so he writes and writes and writes.

For his second semester, Steve takes all the required courses and then art history, too, because it's interesting. He's always been good at sketching but now in his spare time (what little of it there is) he recreates the old masterpieces. He starts a blog about it, which consists of photos of his artwork and complaints about his classes. He links to it in one of Bucky's emails, because Bucky had always told him he should do something with the skill.

Much later, he'll be so glad he started that blog, because the blog is why Peggy Carter noticed him. And Peggy Carter noticing him is what brought Bucky Barnes back into his life.

But that's still over a decade away. For now, there's just someone leaving comments on Steve's posts, asking questions about museums and whether Steve has ever been to such and such this or such and such that. It's interesting, and the commenter is funny, and then, C (which is what the person signs, each time) begins making requests.

.

Steve goes home for the summer, volunteers at the library for the children's program, and tries to do what he can around the house. Ma catches a cough and can't seem to shake it, no matter what the doctor tries, but Ma promises it's nothing.

For his sophomore year, Steve takes the required science and language courses, then fills out his schedule with art courses. He sets up a request section on his blog and then starts selling the finished products because Ma needs all the support she can get.

He still writes Bucky, every week without fail. He's given up expecting a reply, but he uses the emails as a journal, charting out his fears and hopes, and then Ma dies halfway through the spring semester. Steve's last email to Bucky is simply, _Ma's gone, Buck. I love you. Goodbye_.

Even though Ma would want him to stay, Steve never goes back to school after the funeral. His last post on his blog is simply, _That's all, folks_.

Three days after Ma's funeral, a dark-haired woman knocks on the door.

.

Peggy Carter is astounding. Steve's half in love with her by the end of their first conversation. She begins by saying briskly in a lovely British accent, "ArtMaster1988, I presume?"

"Uh, yeah," he replies, taking in her sleek jacket and skintight pants, her wavy dark hair, her blood-red lips.

"I'm C," she says. "And I could use a man of your talents."

Because, it turns out, Peggy Carter is a con-artist and a thief. A very good one. And she needs a forger.

"Count me in," Steve says because he needs to escape.

.

Peggy's partner is a fence named Gabe, and he supplies Steve with everything he needs. When Steve isn't forging, Peggy's teaching him how to steal and taking him to museums and art galleries all over the world. It's as thrilling as it is dangerous, and it's five years later before Steve realizes it, and Peggy says, "Well, that's all I have to teach you, Steve. It's time for you to become Captain."

"What?" Steve says, looking from Peggy to Gabe.

"We're retiring, Steve," Gabe explains, taking Peggy's hand and raising to his lips. She smiles brightly at him, and then Steve.

"But I can't – I'm nowhere near as good as you!" Steve says, heart beginning to pound.

"Steve," Peggy says, stepping forward to grab his shoulder, looking him right in the eye. "You're older now than I was when I started. I've given you the tools to succeed, and it's up to you now. I know that you'll do wonderfully."

.

Steve's first solo jobs are small. When they all go off without a hitch, he branches out. Gabe gave him a contact list for trustworthy fences and if he ever gets into trouble, Peggy's supposed to be his first call. It's thrilling and dangerous, and Captain's reputation remains that of an uncatchable thief.

Every so often, Steve checks in back home. Ma's gone, but Bucky's sisters are growing up – Julia just graduated high-school, and Steve attended it in a nice suit, smiling at Bucky's parents. Rebecca had demanded a phone number, so Steve gave her his private cell, a number only Peggy has.

She calls it the day after Steve's 25th birthday to say that Bucky was killed in action.

That night, he attempts his first and last theft while intoxicated. He breaks his left arm, sprains his left ankle, manages to get back to his hotel room somehow, and then calls Peggy only to sob at her. He spends the next month with her and Gabe.

He never calls Rebecca back and stops checking in on the family because it hurts too much.

.

Gabe is the one to tell Steve about the Winter Soldier, a hitman and retrieval expert. He's apparently a stone cold killer and impossible to shake once he's on your tail. Because Gabe told him, Steve believes the Winter Soldier is real, but he knows he'll never be a target. Captain's an unimportant ghost.

.

Steve still sketches for fun, sometimes. He still steals because it's what he knows, all he knows. There's nothing for him back home – there is no _home_ back home. He has friends in the business – well, acquaintances. His only friends are Peggy and Gabe.

Sometimes, Steve will contract out, steal something for someone else. Depending on the level of difficulty, he'll do it for a pittance or do it for an exorbitant fee.

In the late fall in Vienna, Steve is hired to steal a particular painting hanging on a millionaire's wall.

What he doesn't know is that the Winter Soldier has been hired to retrieve that very same painting.


	9. Captain

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: references to violence and implied past dub-con at best

Pairings: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes, Peggy Carter/Gabe Jones

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 1320

Point of view: third

Prompt: Whedonverse, any slash or gen, fixing what got broken

* * *

It's a pretty shitty painting, truth be told. Steve frowns at the picture his client emailed and there's no way around it: the thing is hideous.

But the pay is good, and the security minimal, so he agrees to steal it.

.

Steve likes Vienna, so the day before the job, he wanders, finding new things to sketch. It's a lovely day and he treats himself to a fine lunch, picks up a pretty bauble to give Peggy the next time he sees her, pickpockets a jackass yelling at his wife, buys Gabe's birthday present and arranges to have it shipped.

An hour before sunset, Steve returns to his hotel room and gets ready.

.

The painting is a landscape that is essentially unrecognizable. It was done by an unknown but its current owner bought it at auction, and Steve's client wants it, for whatever reason. That's not necessary for Steve to know, nor does he really want to. The painting is located in a little-used hallway in an exceedingly rich man's vacation home that has only minimal staff and alright security.

Dogs patrol outside on the grounds, so Steve goes in through the roof.

.

While Steve is carefully removing the painting from its gaudy frame, a soft voice says from behind him, "I'm afraid I need that."

He doesn't react except for the way his shoulders tighten, and he doesn't panic. "Can you pay the 8-mil I'll get on delivery?"

"Well, I could," the voice continues as Steve gently rolls the painting up. "Or I could just take it from you."

Steve turns, taser ready, and there's a man just out of reach (at least, Steve assumes he's a guy, based on the size of him, the breadth of his shoulders), with a black mask on his face. He waits for the guy to move but the guy just stands there.

"Well?" Steve finally demands. "You gonna take it or not?"

The guy slowly brings his hands up to the mask. He unclips something behind his head and the mask falls.

Steve's mouth falls open with it and he says, "… Bucky?"

.

Bucky Barnes died seven years ago. He'd been ignoring Steve for almost seven years before that, but maybe that's unfair. Steve doesn't know.

"Rebecca told me you died," Steve says, nearly dropping the painting.

Bucky's lips quirk up but Steve doesn't for a moment think it's a smile. "I did," he says. And then, "Stevie, what the hell are you doin' here?"

Steve squares his shoulder, tilts his chin up. "I'm stealin'," he says. "You?"

Bucky chuckles softly. "Retrieving," he says.

.

Bucky doesn't take the painting from Steve. He does follow Steve to the drop location, and then home. While Steve sends word that the painting is waiting for pick-up, Bucky showers. None of Steve's clothes will fit him, but he'd apparently picked up some of his own, because he comes into the den in a loose shirt and sweatpants.

He's so much bigger than Steve remembers. Older. And now that he's not wearing gloves or long-sleeves, Steve notices his left arm. "What happened?" he demands, rushing over to grab Bucky's hand, lifting it into better light.

"That's a long story," Bucky says. "Now, why are you stealin', Steve?"

Steve glares up at him. "Long story," he says back. "Why didn't you let your family know you're alive?"

Bucky looks away. "You're in the business," he says after a minute. "Heard of the Winter Soldier?"

"Oh, Bucky," Steve says. "Fuck."

.

Gabe had mentioned the people Steve should avoid at all cost. The Winter Soldier is the best hitman in the world, and none of Steve's jobs were ever high-enough profile to earn him the kind of enemies who'd hire the Winter Soldier.

So of course Steve has to tell him how he ended up a thief.

.

Bucky stays the night, and the day, and the night again. They'd last seen each other as dumb kids who'd never worked out they were _in_ love with each other and also loved each other. Bucky had kissed him the last day they saw each other but had fled before Steve could respond, and that kiss haunted Steve for years.

So he kisses Bucky on the lips, and then the neck, kisses his way down Bucky's scarred torso, and Bucky can't meet his eyes as he gazes up, so Steve says, "Look at me, Buck," and Bucky does, so Steve kisses his way back up, being extra gentle at the spot where Bucky's arm connects to his shoulder.

"You're alive," Steve says, settling in Bucky's lap, making sure Bucky _hears_ the words. "You're alive and that's all that matters, Bucky, and we don't have to do anythin' you don't want to do. Just being near you is enough."

Bucky kisses him. That night, all they do is hold each other. The next morning, Bucky reports in to his client that the painting was stolen before he got there, and that day, they spend in bed, talking about places they've been. They trade kisses and caresses, but nothing else.

The Bucky that Steve remembers was charming and funny and such a nerd, it was adorable. He knew he was good-looking and he acted like it, sometimes, taking girls on dates, trying to charm someone into dating Steve. Steve had been crushing so hard on him, and it was only when Bucky had kissed him and run that Steve realized it was mutual.

 _This_ Bucky has flashes of insecurity tied to his arm and the scars, and he flinches away from Steve's wandering hands that first night, when Steve reaches toward his cock, so Steve's hands quit wandering.

.

When Steve leaves Vienna, Bucky comes with him. His ID says that he's Jay Buchanan, an American; Steve's ID says he's Steve Reynolds, also an American. He'd been livid when Steve explained that he worked jobs alone, mostly, since Peggy retired.

Steve tells him all about his career as Captain the thief and con-man and forger. Bucky doesn't talk much about his life as the Winter Soldier, or even the days before it, when he was (obviously) in black ops. He explains the bare minimum about his metal arm (which is so far ahead of the game in prosthetics it's almost scary). Steve infers a lot, though. He doesn't ask.

It's months and months of steady kisses and gentle touches and so many horrible things inferred before anything else happens, and Steve wouldn't mind if it never happened. He has Bucky again. Bucky's alive.

Bucky's _alive_. He survived whatever horrible things he never talks about. He's even backing away from the name _Winter Soldier_ , which Steve knows he hates from the way he says it. He looks at Steve like Steve's a miracle, but Steve knows Bucky's the miracle, and he'll spend the rest of his life proving it, if that's what it takes to chase away the ghosts haunting Bucky.

"I'm not gonna do this forever," Steve says one morning.

Bucky shrugs. "Then neither am I." He smiles up at Steve as Steve walks over to his chair. "'til the end of the line, remember?"

Steve kisses him, then grabs one of his slices of toast off the plate as he pulls back. "'til the end of the line," he says.

He'd thought the line ended when they went in different directions, one to the marines and one to college. Or when Rebecca had sobbed into the phone that Bucky had been KIA. But Bucky's pouting at him about the toast, sitting at Steve's kitchen table in Steve's home, hair still wet from using Steve's shower, scarred and haunted – "I love you," Steve says, diving back in for another kiss, and another and another, 'til the end.


	10. origin

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: attempted murder, references to violence

Pairings: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes,

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 840

Point of view: third

Prompt: Any, Any, better the devil you know.

* * *

"We need a hitter," Pepper says for the third time, rubbing at her temples. Everything else is handled, but they _need_ someone in case something goes wrong. Natasha's good, better than, and Pepper knows it, but Natasha can't be in two places at once, and they'll need her to actually steal the hardcopy files while Tony wipes the hard drive.

"What about that buff blond guy?" Tony says, tapping on the keyboard obnoxiously loudly.

"Busy with his team in Madrid," Natasha says. "And Clint's laying low for the time being. I have a suggestion, though." Her face is completely expressionless, which means she must actually _want_ whoever it is on the team. "Jay Buchanan."

"Never heard of 'im," Tony mutters without looking over. "Or her? Hir? Whatever, never heard of the person. Hah!" He throws his hands up, pushing his chair away from the table. "Eat that, fuckers!"

Pepper sighs. "Ignore him, please," she implores Natasha. "Now, Jay Buchanan?"

Natasha nods before sliding her gaze towards Tony and smirking. "He's the Winter Soldier," she says and then grins widely at Tony's reaction.

Pepper herself merely presses her lips together, going through everything she knows about the Winter Soldier, which isn't much. He's a ghost story in her former business, and a legend in her current one. The best killer in the world, according to rumor, and honorable, too. Once he takes a job, nothing stops him from completing it. He has no name, no history. Not even Jim's been able to find out much about him.

Except… "Jay Buchanan?" she repeats.

Natasha's lips twist before she hides away all expressions again. "It's as good a name as any," she says, which means she's the one who created the ID for him, or at least helped with it.

Pepper chased Natasha across countries, once. They're almost friends, now.

"You trust him?" Pepper asks, because this job is delicate. If they're caught… well, simply put, they mustn't get caught.

"I do," Natasha says softly.

"Then call him," Pepper orders, and begins revising the plans to include a hitter.

.

Jay Buchanan is not at all what Pepper expects. Which, well, she had no idea what to expect, so really, how can anything be a surprise? She updates Mr. Hammer with the new member of the team (though doesn't share the fact that he's the Winter Soldier) and Mr. Hammer just says, "Sooner the better, Potts!"

So. Jay Buchanan. He's quiet, for one thing. He watches Tony with an almost indulgent look, and when Tony realizes that Buchanan is genuinely interested, not messing with him, Tony actually explains whatever he's doing on the computer.

Buchanan and Natasha spar, and _that_ \- Pepper has to pull Tony away from the computer and lead him to one of the unused rooms for a personal moment. When they make it back, Buchanan smirks at her and Pepper feels herself blush.

She was expecting him to be in perfect shape, of course, all muscles and strength, but his face is almost delicate, and when he smiles, he looks like he belongs in Hollywood, on magazine covers. His hair is long enough to brush his shoulders and about half the time, he wears it pulled back.

And then, of course. There's the arm. Buchanan always wears long sleeves and gloves, but he changes clothes when he and Natasha spar, into something loose, and Pepper sees the arm. It is… amazing. Tony catches sight of it about twenty seconds after Pepper, and it has been a long time since she's seen him so excited about something.

Buchanan, surprisingly enough, allows Tony to examine it to his heart's content, so long as it doesn't require him to undress. And Tony, though he acts like he doesn't, _does_ know how to read social cues.

One of the few things Tony doesn't ask that afternoon is where the prosthetic came from, though he probably knows better than Pepper does just how truly advanced it is. That night, she and Tony call Jim and Tony tells him all about it. Jim sounds somewhere between curious and horrified; Tony and Pepper share a glance, but the conversation moves on.

.

The plan works perfectly until Hammer decides to accuse Pepper's team of betraying him and then attempts to blow them up.

Wrapped up in Tony's arms, she calls Jim. Jim wants to rain down holy hell on Hammer, but Pepper says, "I have something in mind."

.

Buchanan offers to just kill Hammer. Tony's already planning on giving every computer the man ever touches a nasty virus. Natasha links her arm with Buchanan and says, "I'll help you."

Pepper says, "I have a better idea. But we'll need a thief."

"FitzSimmons?" Tony suggests.

Natasha shakes her head. "They're with a crew now. And I'd rather not get Clint involved."

"I know somebody," Buchanan says. "Captain."

Tony sits up straight in his chair. "You know _Captain?"_

Buchanan nods, smirking.

Captain's a legend, too, and Pepper just shakes her head. "The sooner, the better," she says. "Right now, Hammer believes we're dead."

Buchanan nods again, unlinking his arm from Natasha's, and then he walks away, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"You chased Captain, didn't you?" Tony asks, coming over to rest his head on Pepper's shoulder.

"I did," Pepper replies. "Never even caught a glimpse."

They're all quiet for a moment, and then Tony says, "I told you we couldn't trust Hammer."

Pepper sighs.


	11. pilot

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Leverage

Warnings: references to violence

Pairings: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 1190

Point of view: third

Prompt: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes, Robin Hood AU

Note: this is actually the first thing I wrote in the 'verse.

* * *

"Hey, babe," Bucky says into the phone, trying to smile, "remember that favor I was doin' Potts, was gonna be the last job before I retired?"

Steve sighs heavily. "Yeah, Buck, I remember."

"Well, see, Hammer tried to kill us instead'a payin' us, so…" He lets it hang there for a moment and instead of saving him from the awkwardness, Steve waits him out. "We need a thief, Stevie. They were kickin' around names and, well. You're the best."

Steve sighs again. "I'm also retired, Buchanan. Just like you were supposed to be. You and me on the beach somewhere, livin' quiet – ring a bell at all?"

The thing is, Bucky knows he's already in. So when Steve asks, "How?" Bucky knows what he means, and replies, "Bomb," Bucky's smile is real and he knows that Steve's mentally writing a list of everything he needs to bring.

You don't hurt Jay Buchanan without answering to Steve Reynolds, and you don't hurt Captain without dying by the Winter Soldier.

…

Bucky and Steve met as kids and then lost track of each other when Bucky joined the marines and Steve went to college. They met up again, though, when Steve was hired to steal the very same thing Bucky'd been hired to retrieve. By that point, Bucky had already made a name for himself in certain circles, and thankfully, everyone back home thought he was dead instead of MIA.

Of course, him being dead made it quite the shock for Stevie.

…

Steve knows the bare bones of the missing fifteen years. He knows a mission went bad and that Bucky's team were written off while three of them were still alive. He knows that somehow, Bucky lost an arm and probably should've actually died. He knows that someone somewhere gave Bucky what's possibly the best prosthetic in the world.

He knows that Bucky hates the name he uses as a retrieval specialist. He doesn't know about Alexander Pierce. If Bucky has his way, Steve will never know about Alexander Pierce, or the three years Bucky belonged to him.

…

Bucky knows that Steve stayed in school for two years before dropping out because Peggy Carter took him under her wing and taught him to steal. Steve likes artwork but Peggy was more into gems, and Bucky had actually heard about some of their jobs before realizing 'Captain' was Steve.

"It's sorta like Dread Pirate Roberts," Steve had explained, curled up against Bucky, that first night. "She was Captain but now I am. She retired." He shrugged, blushing a little. "I wasn't sure I was ready, but, well. I've done pretty okay for myself."

Bucky had laughed, staring down at the kid he'd left behind. Steve had grown maybe an inch, but instead of being scrawny, now he was lean. He'd always been stronger than he looked but now Bucky could see it.

Since Carter had let him out into the world alone, he had no one watching his back. There was never any question of Bucky not rectifying that.

…

Steve told him upfront that it wasn't going to be his life forever. Bucky's plans never extended past the current job, so he hitched his wagon to Steve (like there was ever any question of him doing something else?) and wherever the job took him, he'd come back to Steve's home of the month. It wasn't like Bucky had ever done anything with all of the massive paychecks, so he handed that money over to Steve to do with what he liked.

Steve had just blinked at him in shock. "You trust me that much?" he'd asked, flabbergasted.

"You trust me?" Bucky asked back.

Nodding fervently, Steve said, "Of course."

Bucky gently chucked his chin. "Then take the money, Stevie."

…

On his thirty-third birthday, Steve decided to cut back his jobs by half. He wanted to travel for fun, not to steal multi-million dollar items anymore. (He still would, of course, if it was something he really _really_ wanted that wasn't for sale, but, well. Special occasions. And for Bucky's thirty-fourth birthday, Steve stole him the oldest 'modern' firearm in the world because he knew Bucky would love it. Bucky did.)

Bucky started cutting back on his jobs, too, because traveling the world with Steve or stealing from some rich guy for some other rich guy? No contest.

…

"Remind me," Steve says, unimpressed, arms across his chest as he stares down at Bucky, "why the _fuck_ you decided to work for _Hammer?"_

"Pepper Potts said she'd owe me a favor," Bucky says, slouched in a very uncomfortable chair and trying to hide just how uncomfortable it is.

"And your team?" Steve says, rolling his eyes and going to the counter where the files are waiting for him. Hardcopy, because Bucky has learned exactly how unsafe electronic files are. Even though Stark complains loudly about it.

"Potts planned it," Bucky says, tilting his head to follow Steve with his eyes. "Natalia's the grifter; she got us in. Stark for hacking, even though he kept sayin' we couldn't trust Hammer. He's been fuckin' annoying with all the I told you sos. And then, well, me."

Stevie sighs like it's all awful, turning around to give Bucky his most _I am so unimpressed_ frown. Bucky shoots back with his _You know you love me_ grin.

…

 _"You're_ Captain?" Stark demands, gaping down at Steve. "You're pocket-sized!"

Steve ignores him, smiling at Potts and shaking her hand. "Thank you for joining us," she says. "Buchanan has told us quite a bit about you and your reputation speaks for itself."

"Thank you for having me," Steve replies. "I'm eager to get started."

He actually is, Bucky knows. Hammer would've been better off just hiring Bucky at the outset instead of this whole team. When Hammer double-crossed him, Bucky would've just killed the fucker and been done with it. But Potts, Stark, Natalia, and Steve?

They're gonna leave the bastard alive and wishing to God he weren't.

…

"You truly love him," Natalia murmurs while Potts explains the plan in full to Steve.

Natalia was why he'd survived and the reason he has a left arm. She also introduced him to Rumlow, who led him to Pierce. Because of that, she thinks she owes him. So he turns to her and says, "You make sure Hammer has no idea Steve's involved in this and everything's square."

She nods firmly, glancing at Steve with a small smile. She asks, "Still retiring after this?"

"That's the plan," he says.

…

Plans never survive intact. Hammer's ruined, his company gutted and his reputation bleeding out, and Potts looks at each of them. "We could do some real good," she says.

Bucky looks at Steve as Stark says, "Whatever you want, Pep, you know I'm in."

Natalia adds, "I've got red in my ledger. I suppose destroying the corrupt could help wipe it out."

Steve reaches for Bucky's left hand, hidden in a dark glove, and says, "It might be fun."

"Stevie, I'm with you 'til the end of the line," he says, so Steve looks back at Potts and nods. "We're in."


	12. Loki

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: attempted murder and actual killing in self-defense

Pairings: none

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 1550

Point of view: third

Prompt: any. any. Killing them off. [The prompt is actually a link to a manip with George RR Martin, JK Rowling, and Joss Whedon, discussing character death in their fandoms]

Note: this was originally the last chapter until I realized there was a major plotline that needed to be tied up.

* * *

"I hear you have a team now," Loki says, setting the teacup in front of Natalie.

"I do," Natalie agrees, smiling as he sits down across from her.

.

When he was just starting out, Loki ran afoul of Natalie Rushman, accidentally ruining her con. Once he realized his error, he quickly attempted to rectify it and instead only made the situation worse.

Natalie Rushman saved his life, when her target turned on them both. He owed her a favor; after he repaid the debt, they continued contact and became friends. They traded favors back and forth for years, and when Thor got himself thrown in prison for killing a man in a barfight (a complete accident, Loki knew) Loki called Natalie and said, "I need your help."

.

Of course Thor's life in Norway was ruined. There could be no salvaging his reputation and Father cut him out of both his will and the company. Loki had long been a disappointment, so Father had pinned all his hopes on Thor, his true son and heir.

Now, Thor was neither.

"You've destroyed my life!" Thor raged the first night of his freedom, while Natalie's friend piloted the small aircraft she'd obtained from somewhere and Natalie pretended she wasn't listening.

"I've saved your life!" Loki shouts back. "Father has enemies, you fool, and you would've died in there."

Thor was beyond reason that night, and for the three days and nights that followed. But on the fourth morning, Thor had gently knocked on Loki's bedroom door, walked in slowly, and sagged down on Loki's bed. "I don't know what to do, Loki," Thor confessed. "I… I killed a man. Should I not be punished for it?"

"No, Thor," Loki replied, reaching out to grasp Thor's shoulder. "It was an accident. You did not _mean_ to kill him."

That morning, Thor wept in Loki's arms as he had not since their dog Fenrir ran away when they were boys. Before they left the room to find breakfast, Thor had sighed heavily, leaned into Loki for one more moment, and then stood. "Tell me, brother," he said, "what should I do?"

Loki smiled. "What has Father told you of my work?"

.

Save his rare partnerships with Natalie, Loki worked alone. He trusted no one and it was better if he didn't have to worry about a partner stabbing him in the back.

Thor is not a good enough liar to be a grifter, nor delicate enough for the intricacies of the truly magnificent heists Loki has imagined. But Thor is strong and fast, and so he becomes Loki's muscle.

"How many laws are we breaking?" Thor asked before the first job they work together.

Laughing, Loki waved a hand dismissively. "Is this not better than stuffy meetings with old men?"

"Aye, it is," Thor admitted.

.

Hogun was Loki's find: Loki overheard a piece of information and decided to investigate, which led him to a backroom in a drug warehouse, where a young hacker was about to be executed by drug-runners for knowing things he shouldn't have.

Loki could have left; no one knew he was there. But the hacker, who was possibly 20, but probably younger, met his eyes for just a moment before looking away without a single sign that he'd seen Loki.

The drug-runners were arguing amongst themselves; Loki spoke very little Japanese yet, which he'd been attempting to rectify, but he was able to determine that the bosses hadn't yet decided the boy's fate. One of them wanted to kill the boy immediately, and his fellows were trying to talk him out of it.

The boy didn't look frightened, simply resigned. Loki rolled his eyes, swore that Thor would never learn the truth of the matter, and unsheathed one of the three knives he always carried on his person.

The first man went down quickly, caught by sheer surprise. The second caught Loki's shoulder with his own blade, but was then knocked over by the boy. The third pulled out a gun, so Loki grabbed the boy and shoved him out of the way, throwing his knife. "Go!" he shouted at the boy.

The boy listened. Loki carefully checked all three prone forms; the first two were unconscious, though bleeding. The third was dead, most likely from his head hitting the doorframe on the way down, but possibly from Loki's blade in his chest. Loki retrieved his knife and fled.

The boy was waiting outside and asked something in Japanese. Loki shrugged. "Sorry, I don't understand," he said in his own native language. The boy looked annoyed, so Loki tried English next. "What of this?"

The boy shrugged. "Barely," he said.

Loki glanced back at the building. He continued in English, "We'll work on that but we should depart." He gently grabbed the boy's arm and steered him in the direction of the hotel. "Are you injured?"

The boy shook his head. "You are."

"Oh, right." Loki dropped the boy's arm and brought his hand up to his shoulder. "Damn." There'd be no hiding it from Thor now.

.

As Loki expected, Thor raged. The boy, Hogun, stood by impassively as Thor destroyed their hotel room. The moment he stepped toward Loki, however, Hogun was between them, head tilted back, one of the drug-runner's knives in his hand.

Shockingly, Thor actually paused. "You think I'll hurt him?" Thor demanded.

Hogun didn't reply. Loki sighed. "English, Thor," he said in the language. "He doesn't know Norwegian and I barely understand Japanese." He reached out to carefully tap on Hogun's shoulder. "Thor won't hurt me."

Hogun considered that for a moment and then stepped aside.

.

With Hogun to work the computers, their usual jobs began going even smoother. He was also apparently a pickpocket; it was how he had survived before realizing his true talent lay elsewhere.

While Loki was in the midst of reworking all of his standing plans, Sif decided to barge back into their lives. She had been both his first crush and first heartbreak because she was entirely in love with Thor, and then Thor broke _her_ heart and it was all a nasty mess, to be honest. Loki hadn't thought of her in years, not since the last time he was in his parents' house, which was… nearly a decade ago, now.

"I've come to bring Thor home," Sif announced after picking the lock _and_ disarming the security system.

"I am impressed," Loki admitted, crossing his arms, "but that's a fool's errand."

Sif glared at him. "Mr. Berg has dealt with both the barfight and the prison break, Loki," she hissed. "Thor can safely come home and resume his place in the business and family."

"And what if he doesn't want to?" Loki demanded.

"Is that not for me to decide?" Thor asked, entering from the hallway, Hogun just behind him.

"Of course it is," Sif said. "Your parents miss you, Thor, and they think this lifestyle is – "

"Exciting?" Loki offered.

She glared at him again. "Dangerous."

"Of course it's dangerous!" Loki scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Thor, I'll be in the library." He turned on his heel and stalked off.

.

Thor did not return home. Neither did Sif.

Instead, in the morning, Sif marched into the kitchen where Loki was eating and asked, "Would the job not be easier with a woman?"

"So you're staying, then?" Loki muttered.

Sif declared, "I am."

.

Volstagg and Fandral followed Hogun home one evening, while the team rested after a success in Belarus. Loki had bought out the entire top floor of his favorite hotel in Paris because he intended they stay for awhile to relax after the harrowing month's work.

What actually happened was Hogun getting noticed in another hacker's system and the two-man team tracking him down.

Thankfully, once they realized just who they'd found, all Volstagg and Fandral wanted was to join the team.

"Consider us finding you at all our audition," Fandral had said, grinning brightly. "Hullo, I'm Fandral King, thief. This is my trusty companion Volstagg Kaiser, hacker."

Loki snorted. "King and Kaiser?"

Fandral just kept grinning while Volstagg laughed behind him.

.

"They are impressive, your team," Natalie says, smirking. "In fact, I think your hackers combined might equal Stark when he's shitfaced."

Loki raises an eyebrow. "Are you challenging us, Natalie?" He sips the tea and then, as he's lowering his cup, he says, "At least we were never fooled by Hammer."

Her lips thin. Loki smiles. "My team will be going after the Emperor's Diamond in Doomstadt within the month," she says. "We'll see you there." She rises to her feet, smoothes her skirt, says, "Thank you for the tea," and departs.

"Doomstadt," Loki mutters. His team has two hackers (one of which is also a thief), two thieves (one of which is also a hacker), two hitters (one of which is also a grifter), two grifters (one of which is also a hitter), and then the brains behind it all (who is also a grifter). What does Natalie's team have? A hitter, a hacker, a grifter, a thief, and then Potts, who once tried to catch them all so they could be locked away.

Loki sets the teacups in the sink and goes to Hogun's quarters; he needs to begin reviewing the layout of Doomstadt.


	13. finale

Title: let's go break the law just one more time

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: violence, death, implied past dub-con

Pairings: Steve/Bucky, past-Pierce/Bucky

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 885

Point of view: third

Prompt: Any, any, The Brief History of 7 Killings

Note: this is the final chapter. if I could do case fic, there would've been more to this 'verse but I can't.

* * *

The first time he kills a person, Bucky doesn't even see the man's face. It's a sniper shot, from behind, and the man is aiming at Dum Dum as Bucky pulls the trigger.

.

"You shouldn't have come back, Smith," Rumlow says, gesturing his men away. Rollins is the only one Bucky recognizes.

"How many did I kill before you stopped sending them after me?" Bucky asks.

Rumlow scoffs. "Like you don't know?"

Bucky shrugs. "I quit counting with Alexander." He'd counted as well as he could, back before, when he lied to himself that he was killing for his country, for his family and Steve, though he knows some slipped between the cracks. With Alexander, he stopped counting after the third job.

"We didn't stop sending them," Rumlow says, those sharp eyes assessing Bucky, looking for any weak points.

Bucky's only weak points are half a world away.

"They stopped going," Rumlow says. His team look at each other, brows furrowed, except for Rollins, who just shakes his head.

Bucky grins broadly. "They're young, Rumlow. What do they know about me?" He slowly brings his hands up, both gloved, and pulls the left one off. "James Smith – you tell them about the best you ever trained?" The team just looks confused, but Rumlow's scowling. He only likes talking when it's his voice droning on. "Or maybe," Bucky says, "they know the Winter Soldier."

Yeah, they know the Winter Soldier. Three of the boys back up instantly, two more go for guns, but Bucky doesn't move. Rumlow's the only actual threat in this room.

"Why are you back?" Rumlow demands.

Four people in the world know that Jay Buchanan is the Winter Soldier. And so long as Alexander is alive, he'll want Bucky back, which is a threat to Steve that Bucky cannot abide.

"You know why," Bucky says.

.

Alexander is waiting for him at the villa in Monterosso al Mare. He's sent the staff away for the weekend, and he's sitting out by the water, sipping one of those wines he used to waste on James. Bucky never was into wine, but James was into whatever Alexander wanted him to be.

"Did any of them make it?" Alexander asks, not looking away from the sunset.

"No," Bucky says. He's got a knife wound in his right side and shoulder, a very mild concussion, and a bruised rib.

Despite everything, he still doesn't want to kill Alexander.

"You were the best, James," Alexander says, toasting him with the wine glass before draining it down. "The greatest asset my organization ever had."

"You arranged it," Bucky says, watching Alexander watch the sun sink below the horizon. "My brothers, our backup getting lost."

Alexander chuckles. "How long have you known?"

"Long enough." Bucky's left hand rests on Rumlow's knife. He says, "I could've killed you from a mile away. You wouldn't have even known."

Chuckling again, Alexander stands and turns to face him. "Was that ever truly an option, James? After everything?" He sighs. "I know about your thief, James." He sounds fucking _disappointed._ "I know about the games you've been playing, pretending to be a good man. But you're not." He scoffs, shaking his head. "Not any more than I am." He steps closer, within reach, trails the fingers of his right hand along Bucky's jaw. "I made you, James."

"No," Bucky says, "you didn't."

.

He doesn't use the knife. The most personal kill of his life, he uses his flesh hand and he watches the life leave Alexander's eyes.

.

On his way to the airport, Bucky texts Rhodes a tip that Alexander Pierce's empire is about to be rocked with in-fighting as all of his goons try to rise to the top. He watches the sun rise, trying to see it the way Steve would. Steve would find it beautiful.

All Bucky sees is blood, washing across the sky.

.

Natalia meets him at the door. "I could've gone with you," she says, arms crossed, face expressionless in the way that means she's very worried and angry.

"No, you couldn't," he says, looking past her, to where Steve and Pepper are standing over a table, gesturing wildly at each other as they plan something. "I had to do it alone."

Steve spots him; the anger is sudden, hardening his face, and he marches towards Bucky, practically visibly steaming mad.

Fuck, but Bucky loves him so much.

"You don't disappear on _me,_ Buchanan!" Steve shouts, and Pepper shoos Tony towards the door, Natalia trailing them. "You don't just go dark and disappear!"

"I'm sorry," Bucky says, knowing his grin isn't helping calm Steve at all.

Maybe Alex _\- Pierce,_ maybe he was right and Bucky's not a good man. He doesn't need to be. He's got the team for that. He's got Steve.

He reaches out slowly, feeling the relief all the way in his bones when Steve moves into the touch, wrapping his arms around Bucky.

There's so much Bucky's never told him. He hadn't wanted it to, to _stain_ Steve the way it stained him. He knows that Steve must've pieced a lot of it together, that Winter Soldier and Pierce were tangled together, but if he could pretend that Steve didn't know –

"I love you," he says, clinging to Steve as tightly as he dares.


End file.
